Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said that the company is planning to open an additional 25 stores in China in the next two years, increasing the number of stores to 45 in the region by 2015.
"We're investing like crazy in the market," Cook said, according to Reuters. "When I look at China, I see an enormous market where there are more people graduating into the middle class than any nation on Earth in history."
The tech giant already has 15 stores spread in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In a translated Chinese interview published by Sina Corp., Cook described China as a very important market, and predicted it will be the largest sales market. Sales in the region currently account for 14 percent, or $5.8 billion, of the company's Q3 revenue.
Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman, told Businessweek that she hasn't seen the published interview yet, but confirmed that the company is planning to open more stores.
Cook recently visited its iPhone factory, Foxconn Technology factory in Zhengzhou, to check its operations. He also had a meeting on Wednesday with China's Vice Minister Ma Kai to discuss the issues related to user data protection.
The meeting with Ma Kai was necessary to reassure that the company is committed to enhancing the protection of the users' safety and privacy. Cook also needed to clarify accusations that the company has backdoors that other governments can access. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology identified some security problems in the iOS software, which could potentially compromise personal information of iPhone users.
The security discussion came after a report alleged that Chinese authorities hacked Apple's iCloud storage to steal credentials, such as user names and passwords.
Cook will be attending a council meeting in Beijing's Tsinghua University; Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will also attend.
